Irish players and Arsenal

[Catfish]

I believe I read somewhere that Arsenal field a side that was primarily Irishmen and they won a cup/title. Is this true? I know Liverpool and Man Utd have long history/connections with Ireland. But Arsenal? Just curious.
Thank,
Patrick

[Tahsin the Vile]

Yes that was a small cup, dont know the name... Graham Barrett's the best one

[Goonerette]

David O'Leary used to play for Arsenal and there was another famous Irish guy, but I forgot his name. I still remember what he used to look like in 1980s though.

[revelation]

There were quite a few Irish players on Arsenal in the 70's and 80's and before. The two you will recognize are David O'Leary and Niall Quinn. O'Leary played for Arsenal for about 20 years (IIRC) and Quinn for quite a few. Quinn holds himself a bit responsible for Tony Adams alcohol problems because Quinn and Tony used to go drinking together often and when Niall left he lost touch with Mr. Arsenal and couldn't help to slow down his drinking.

Before these two though there were several others including the current youth team manager - Liam Brady.

[Jeff L]

There was one game in particular, in the 70's when Arsenal fielded 7 Irishmen (North and South) in the same team.
Names, such as Jennings, Rice, Nelson, from (N.I.) and
Mancini, O'Leary, Brady (Eire) spring to mind. I'm sure someone can "fill in the other" that at present I can't recall.
Also later on was Niall Quinn. I'm sure that there might be others too, but I'm not in "Brain Racking" mood at present!

[Gooneur franglais]

1979 was the year the Arse won the FA cup fielding 3 NI international players (Jennings, Rice and Nelson) and O'Leary, Stapleton and Brady for Eire.

Small cup indeed!

The Irish in the 70's were the equivalent of the Frenchies today.

(Final score Arsenal 3 - Man Utd 2)

[USsupport]

Originally posted by Gooneur franglais
1979 was the year the Arse won the FA cup fielding 3 NI international players (Jennings, Rice and Nelson) and O'Leary, Stapleton and Brady for Eire.

Small cup indeed!

The Irish in the 70's were the equivalent of the Frenchies today.

(Final score Arsenal 3 - Man Utd 2)

unbelievable game that was. well worth a look for all you Arse history fans. if for nothing else you'll get a laugh outta the haircuts and short shorts :)
Brady really made his name that day, in front of a worldwide audience (well a lot more than usual anyway). was that really 24 yrs ago, sheesh!!

all three lads from Eire joined when they were really young, as far as I can remember.

[Motterman]

Originally posted by USsupport

all three lads from Eire joined when they were really young, as far as I can remember.

The way you put away pints, I'm amazed you keep coming back to BigSoccer. :D

It must be set as your homepage. :p

[Zacatecas]

Originally posted by USsupport
unbelievable game that was. well worth a look for all you Arse history fans. if for nothing else you'll get a laugh outta the haircuts and short shorts :)
Brady really made his name that day, in front of a worldwide audience (well a lot more than usual anyway). was that really 24 yrs ago, sheesh!!

all three lads from Eire joined when they were really young, as far as I can remember.

That was one of the greatest Cup finals of all times.
Arsenal were winning 2-0 with 5 or 6 minutes to play. Man Utd scored 2 goals to tie things up and then Arsenal scored in the dying seconds to make it 3-2. Incredible game.

That was also probably the most IRISH cup final, with a whole slew of Irishmen on the pitch in Wembley that day.

Arsenal.... Jennings, Rice, Nelson, O'Leary, Brady, Stapleton.

Man Utd... McIlroy, Nicholl.

Man Utd also had 5 Scottish players on the field that day.... Jordan, Macari, Buchan, Albiston and McQueen.

[USsupport]

Originally posted by Motterman
The way you put away pints, I'm amazed you keep coming back to BigSoccer.
It must be set as your homepage.

Bigsoccer is my life, or summink like that :)

[Brodo]

Dennis Bergkamp has been one of the greatest ever players for Arsenal. In my opinion Liam (Chippy) Brady was better.

He was an "uplifting talent whose sublime skill and vision crossed the subtle boundary between sport and art." You sometimes had to question your own eyesight when you watched him play. He could be hemmed in by opponents one second and racinfg away from them the next. He had the uncanny ability to glide past players without changing pace or direction, the ball apparently attached to his claw-like left foot by an piece of invisible elastic. He played forty yard passes as if he was threading a needle.

He made his Arsenal debut at the age of 17 in October 1973, I was there to witness it. He played in 294 games and scored 59 goals. His most memorable goal was in a 5-1 drubbing of Sperz at White Hart Lane. It was one of those 'time stood still' moments; with virtually no backlift the ball curved off of his left boot and continued on it's trajectory into the top left hand corner of the net.

His greatest moment was the 1979 Cup Final but the following day he announced that he would only stay one more year with the club because they refused to make him a decent offer.

So it was over, after 6 years at the club the genius was off to Juventus leaving us with the likes of Colin Hill, Steve Gatting and Brian McDermott.